The world today is often portrayed as being less kind, friendly or giving than it used to be. So-called Gen Me, today’s teens and young adults, are the poster-children of moral decline, routinely characterised…

The distribution of wealth is fundamentally a moral question. So why has the response to the GFC been so sluggish?
EPA/JUSTIN LANE
October 1, 2014

Five years on, the response of governments around the world to the global financial crisis (GFC) continues to draw criticism. Leaders failed to fulfil the promises they made during the GFC’s darkest days…

Does an education in everyday ethics really require an understanding of moral philosophy?
Jef Safi/Flickr
September 23, 2014

Ethics are increasingly a part of the school curriculum, and practical introductory classes in applied ethics are part of the training that nurses, scientists and soldiers undergo. Ethical education is…

All public decision-making depends on ethical values, even if that’s disguised.
AAP Image/NEWZULU/Courtney Biggs
September 22, 2014

However they’re spun, environmental concerns are never far from the headlines – and coordinated global marches on the weekend attest to the public’s interest in this area. Whenever we’ve made contributions…

A girl lights a candle during a candlelight vigil. How does tragedy square with the idea of a loving, omnipotent god?
Rupak De Chowdhuri
September 21, 2014

On All Saints Day in 1755 the earth quaked beneath the city of Lisbon. Crowds rushed to open spaces near the sea only to be engulfed by a tsunami. The philosopher Voltaire lamented the tragedy in his Poem…

There is a meaningful distinction to be drawn between moral and ethical decisions.
Helga Weber
September 18, 2014

Certain customs or behaviours are recognised as good and others as bad, and these collectively comprise morality – arguably the summation of our value system as human beings. So a conversation about ethical…

Fairness and empathy are closely connected to moral development and reasoning.
George A. Spiva Center for the Arts
September 16, 2014

We hear a lot about tolerance these days. Tolerance is a moral virtue best placed within the moral domain – but unfortunately it is often confounded with prejudice. Much of the psychological research about…

Philosophy begins, as Aristotle remarked, with curiosity and wonder.
kozumel
September 14, 2014

You’re a free thinker – congratulations – but does that mean you can, and should, approach everything with an open mind? Let me try to convince you you shouldn’t. I do not want to argue with him: he shows…

Very little we say in the policy room can contain the enormous complexity of family life.
Kitty DuKane
September 11, 2014

Whether we’re reading about family studies research in Women’s Day , Scientific American or the Journal of GLBT Family Studies, most of us look for evidence that will help us understand where we sit along…

Our relationship with non-human animals must be understood as a question of morality.
Patrick Bouquet/Flickr
September 10, 2014

The traditional point of view in western intellectual thought – and one which is reflected in our own day-to–day views – is that of human exceptionalism, or anthropocentrism: the belief that humans are…

The word morality makes people uneasy – but not ethics. What is the basis of a moral education?
Flood G/Flickr
September 7, 2014

The human animal takes a remarkably long time to reach maturity. And we cram a lot of learning into that time, as well we should: the list of things we need to know by the time we hit adulthood in order…

Good moral character comes from practice.
Moyan Brenn
September 3, 2014

When we think of morally upright, virtuous citizens, do we imagine boring do-gooders? Is the idea of being virtuous out-dated and old-fashioned? Or is “being virtuous” still something we should aspire…